For a variety of reasons, it is sometimes necessary to administer medicine in the form of pills or capsules for prescribed time periods or during certain intervals. One example of a product having this type of regimen requirement is an oral contraceptive. Presently, oral contraceptives are dispensed using a package known as a "dialpack", which has a calendar ring as a integral part of the base component. Dispensers such as dialpacks are necessary to ensure that the user takes a pill each day and is able to verify the pills are being taken according to schedule. The relationship between the calendar and the dispenser is fixed, and cannot be rotated or otherwise adjusted. Therefore, using currently available dialpack designs, the user is obligated to begin a regimen on a Sunday, or whatever day is designated on the package to correspond to a first dosage.
Recent advances in oral contraceptives have led to an improved version which more precisely relates the dosage administered to a particular point within the menstrual cycle; this is known as a phasic regimen. The specific day for taking the first pill is determined by the onset of the menstrual cycle. Therefore, the particular day upon which a medication cycle will commence does not necessarily correspond to the fixed day mandated by the current dialpack--it might occur on any day of the week, and will vary from month to month. It is essential, however, that during a phasic regimen all pills be dispensed in their correct sequence, since the amount of active ingredients in each pill varies and corresponds to a particular day within the menstrual cycle. It is therefore desirable to provide a pill dispenser which allows the user to pre-select the start day.